Nailed
by blazerrose
Summary: a case that gets away from Jack and his new assistant - at first.... (Format Fixed)


Friday December 10  
  
2:43pm  
  
Supreme Court part 43  
  
Judge: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?" Forewoman: "We have, your honor." "How does the jury find?" "We find the defendant not guilty."  
  
Gasps are heard in the courtroom.  
  
Judge: "The court thanks you for your time. We are adjourned."  
  
Jack and Kathryn hang their heads. Jack stands, shoves his notes in his bag, and prepares to leave. He stops when he sees Kathryn still sitting, staring at the floor. At first, he's annoyed, after all, you win some, you lose some. But, when he looks at her face, he realizes her personal involvement in the case. Not only the long hours she's put in the last three months helping him with the case, but also the emotional toll is evident on her face. "She has such a strong sense of right and wrong," Jack thinks, "and this is just wrong, to let a five-time rapist/murderer walk on a technicality. A guy who attacks without regard for age, race, social status.. The only factor is it just comes down to being a woman."  
  
"Are you ok, Kathy?"  
  
She doesn't move, but replies, "I guess."  
  
"Come on. Let's go to the bar. You can have your soda. I need a drink."  
  
"No, I'd rather just go home." She still hasn't moved.  
  
"Are you ok to drive?"  
  
"I'll take a cab. I'll come back for my car tomorrow."  
  
"At least let me walk you out."  
  
"-K."  
  
Sunday Dec. 12  
  
St. Ignatius Episcopal Church  
  
1:50pm  
  
Kathy is sitting in her pew, alone. The church is empty, with the last service having ended almost two hours ago. "Why? This is so wrong. I had every I dotted, T crossed.. Stinkin' Dworkin and his client's 'rights'. Criminals don't have rights. They threw them away the moment they committed the crime. I'll just sit here a while longer. It's peaceful here - no one can claim illegal search and seizure in a pew. No one can twist the legal system to let Roger Kostov go free while Estelle, Amy, Susan, Sue, and Jackie remain worm food. Ok, peaceful thoughts - you're in God's house."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Jack! How did you.?"  
  
"A good friend just knows."  
  
Kathryn smiles slowly. "Please, sit."  
  
"I figured you would be in here having a crisis of conscience. I know how hard you worked on this."  
  
"It's not even that, Jack. It's the general wrongness of the whole thing. Roger is out there. He might even be waiting for me. I could be number six."  
  
"Kathy, don't.. Just don't think that." He reaches out and lightly touches her right shoulder as she looks away to the hymnal in the rack. "Maybe you should take some time off."  
  
"And do what, Jack? Sit in my apartment and worry? No thanks."  
  
"I will get him, Kathy."  
  
"How? With one of your famous end-runs around the Constitution? Double jeopardy, hello? You can't go after him again. Duh."  
  
Jack smiles and his eyes wrinkle. "Don't worry. I'll find a way to get him behind bars." He pauses, then says, "Prison justice just might take care of the rest." Kathy's eyes widen as she looks back at Jack, and he continues. "Even hardened criminals have a soft spot for their grandmothers, and they won't like having to share a cell block with Estelle Carter's murderer. They'll take care of him." Kathy looks past him, breathes in a deep breath, and lets it out.  
  
"How are you going to do it? On what charges?"  
  
"He'll commit another crime. I'll find a way to indict. I always do."  
  
"Right. How silly of me. You're the great Jack McCoy."  
  
"I sense some sarcasm, Kathy."  
  
"Astute as always." She pauses for a moment, draws another deep breath, then continues. "You know that drink you offered?"  
  
Jack nods.  
  
"How about making it a late lunch, instead?"  
  
Jack smiles and says, "Ok. Italian?"  
  
Kathy nods and they leave.  
  
Monday Dec. 13  
  
EADA Jack McCoy's office  
  
8:12am  
  
The phone rings. Jack answers brusquely, "McCoy." The color drains from his face as Kathy appears at his door. "I see. Thank you." He slowly hangs up the phone, then looks up. "That was Detective Briscoe. They found a body in Riverside Park, strangled, with her head shaved, her dress wrapped under her arms and her shoes set by her head."  
  
"Roger Kostov."  
  
"Has to be."  
  
Monday Dec. 13  
  
Lt. Van Buren's office  
  
27th precinct  
  
9:30am  
  
"What do you have so far, Lieutenant?"  
  
"It's gotta be Roger Kostov, Jack. The MO is exactly the same. I've got the lab running the DNA from the semen as fast as they can."  
  
"Don't drop this one. I want to nail that son-of-a-bitch."  
  
"You think I wanted to see him walk, Counselor? You think it's fun having the Mayor's office call me every hour wanting an update?"  
  
The phone rings as Anita shoots Jack a dirty look. "Van Buren. Yeah. Send it up." She hangs up the phone. "Preliminary lab results are back. It's a match."  
  
"I just happen to have an arrest warrant on me. Tell detectives Briscoe and Green to Mirandize him as they enter his apartment. No mistakes. I'll be down there myself with the warrant."  
  
Monday Dec. 13  
  
Roger Kostov's apartment  
  
10:15am  
  
Lennie stands to the left of the door, Ed to the right. Lennie knocks. "New York City Police. Open up!" They hear sounds of scuffling coming from inside. Lennie nods and Ed swings around and kicks the door in. They see Kostov diving out the window onto the fire escape. Ed gives chase while Lennie radios the uniformed cops outside about the break. Kostov is nabbed in the alley as he drops to the ground by the dumpster. Jack arrives as Ed is cuffing Kostov. Ed begins to recite Miranda, and Kostov cuts him off. "Shut up, stupid nigger. I know it by now." He looks at Jack as Ed cinches the cuffs tighter. "OW. You're enjoying this, aren't you? Where's your redheaded bitch? Leave her at home?" Kostov laughs.  
  
"No, my assistant is busy lining up witnesses to testify against you. You're going to jail, Mr. Kostov, for good, this time."  
  
"Ha ha! That's what you think. My lawyer will kick your ass in court again."  
  
"Your lawyer will be busy dancing in paperwork as soon as Miss Robbins gets done. He'll be too busy to get you off this time."  
  
Tuesday Dec. 14  
  
Kostov's apartment  
  
11:13am  
  
Ed: "Hey Lennie -check this out - Women as Servants" (holding book with a picture of a woman in 1950's dress and apron on cover.)  
  
Lennie: "Almost as good as this -" holds up a book with a swastika on it. "White America - the Purification of A Country. I can't read this crap."  
  
Ed: "'A woman is to serve her man, unquestioningly. She is to cook, clean, raise his children, and fulfill his every need.'" As he thumbs through the book, he finds pages with the corners bent and passages highlighted. "Lennie, this guy believes this stuff - white man's superiority over everyone. Frightening."  
  
Lennie: "In the 50's no one would have really thought much about your book there. It was just assumed that's how a good wife should act."  
  
Ed: "Nice to know we live in such enlightened times."  
  
Lennie:" Let's book these books. I'm sure McCoy can do something with them."  
  
Wednesday Dec 30  
  
EADA Jack McCoy's office  
  
4:43pm  
  
Jack sits at his desk. "Mr. Dworkin, I am going to offer your client Murder 2, 25 to life. Considering what the detectives turned up in his apartment a couple of weeks ago, it's a gift."  
  
"A gift, Jack? I hate to think what Christmas presents you handed out this year if you consider this a gift."  
  
"I am not in the mood for your cute quips, Mr. Dworkin. Murder 2, take it or leave it."  
  
"Jack.."  
  
Kathy interjects, "What you don't seem to get, Randall, is we have the books your client used as owner's manuals for his crimes. This is one of the milder ones. (She shows him Women as Servants) He also had books on the Serbian Army and the war atrocities they committed, the Nazis, and Ted Kazinski, among others. He had a Nazi flag on the wall of his bedroom. Twine under his mattress. Photos out of some porno magazine, with the models heads torn off posted around his mirror. Yeah, your client is a regular angel."  
  
Dworkin pipes up. "As you both know, I firmly believe in our country's beautiful Constitution, and when you invaded his home, his private space, and removed his belongings without his consent, you became the police state, the dictatorship you find so revolting in these books. So before you go casting aspersions on my client, just think of this (he opens his briefcase and removes a blue folded paper, which he hands to Jack) motion to suppress - illegal search and seizure. See you at the hearing, Jack." He leaves with Kostov.  
  
"Kathy, you told me.."  
  
"Don't start, Jack. You will have no problems with this one. I got Judge Adams to draft the search warrant as all-inclusive - bank records, home movie collection, all drawers, closets, you name it, you're covered. Don't worry, it's just Dworkin the dork. When he was starting out, I butted heads with him in the traffic division."  
  
"Trust me, I know Dworkin. I've had the. opportunity to oppose him twice now."  
  
"What I find sick about defense attorneys like him is he is defending this neo-Nazi dirtbag, and Dworkin is Jewish!"  
  
"There are reasons why I stay on the right side of the courtroom. I don't have to compromise what I believe in order to win."  
  
"Nah, but that pesky thing called the law might get in your way."  
  
Friday January 1  
  
EADA Jack McCoy's office  
  
1:23pm  
  
Kathy knocks on Jack's doorframe. He looks up and smiles. "Come in. Happy New Year!"  
  
"Yeah. You sober yet?"  
  
Jack dips his head and looks at her with a cockeyed glance. "For your information, I had cider last night and listened to the New Year's Eve noises on the street below. I am perfectly sober."  
  
"Just checking. You wanted to go over the Kostov case before trial Monday?"  
  
"Yeah. Kathy, I want you to do his cross. He's dumb enough to want to testify on his own behalf, and we're going to sit back and watch him talk his way into Attica."  
  
"You sure? It's like throwing a match on gasoline."  
  
"That's precisely what I'm hoping for."  
  
Monday January 4  
  
Part 43 Supreme Court  
  
3:47pm  
  
Dworkin turns to his seat. "No further questions, your honor."  
  
"Do the people wish to cross?"  
  
Kathy stands. "We do your Honor." Kostov raises his head and glares at Kathy. She picks up a book on the table and approaches the stand. "Mr. Kostov - is this your book?" (Shows him Women as Servants) "People's 40."  
  
"If you say so."  
  
"Your honor.."  
  
"Answer the question, Mr. Kostov."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm going to hand this to you and ask you to read the highlighted part on page 46. I would also like it on the record that this passage was highlighted already when Detectives Briscoe and Green found the book."  
  
"So noted."  
  
"Mr. Kostov?"  
  
"'A woman must fulfill her man's every need, even if she does not want to. Her livelihood depends on her man, and he must have a peaceful home to be able to fight his battles every day."  
  
"Now please turn to page 102 and read the highlighted passage."  
  
"A woman must wear a dress and heels every day. This will make her more submissive to her husband's needs."  
  
"What was Veronica Ross wearing the night she died?"  
  
"How should I know?"  
  
"You two went out on a date December 12 to celebrate your freedom after your last trial, didn't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
  
Kathy approaches him slowly. "I ask again - what was she wearing?"  
  
"A blue dotted dress and blue high heeled shoes."  
  
"Why did you shave her head?"  
  
"I didn't."  
  
"Her hair was found in higher counts on your coat than would be normal during the winter."  
  
"I don't know anything about that."  
  
"How do you explain your semen being in her?"  
  
"We had sex."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"I, uh, I don't remember."  
  
"You don't remember. I see. What time did the date end?"  
  
"Around 8:30."  
  
"Where did you go then?"  
  
"I went home."  
  
"Anyone see you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"What did you do at home?  
  
"I went to sleep."  
  
"Man of many words."  
  
Dworkin stands. "Objection, your honor."  
  
"Withdrawn. You don't like women, do you?"  
  
Dworkin stands again. "Objection, your honor."  
  
"Your honor, it goes to his state of mind and his motive behind his treatment of the victim. It can be substantiated by the evidence."  
  
"Overruled. Answer the question."  
  
"I like women, as long as they understand their place."  
  
"Their place. I see." Kathy stops in front of him, folds her arms, and resumes. "And what exactly is 'their place'?"  
  
"You read the book. That's what they should be."  
  
"The jury didn't read the book. What is your ideal woman?"  
  
Kostov squirms a bit in his seat, sighs, and answers. "Blonde, blue-eyed, medium build. She stays at home. Body like a Barbie doll. And she'd better have dinner waiting. She'd better keep shut up until I want her to talk. She'd better not disagree with me, ever." The longer he talks, the more agitated he becomes. Kathy seizes on this.  
  
"So I would not be your ideal woman, since I don't wear house dresses and I don't stay home."  
  
Kostov is very clipped. "No you wouldn't."  
  
"Good. I don't want to be."  
  
Dworkin stands, but before he can speak, Kathy says, "withdrawn. I have nothing further at this time."  
  
Tuesday January 5th  
  
Part 43, exterior, Supreme Court  
  
10:15am  
  
Jack and Kathy are on the bench outside the courtroom in the lobby. "I think we got him this time."  
  
"Letting me cross him was perfect. His contempt for women was so evident, beginning with his shocked stare when I stood up. It sealed his fate. One juror - the older lady in the back row - was shaking her head as he answered my questions. Combine that with the forensics, and it's a neatly fit puzzle."  
  
The door opens and the bailiff indicates the jury is back.  
  
"That was very quick!"  
  
"I hope it bodes well, Kathy. I hope it bodes well." They stand and enter the courtroom.  
  
Part 43 interior  
  
10:25am  
  
The judge sits. "Mr. Foreman, have you reached a verdict?"  
  
"We have, your honor."  
  
"On the first count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find?"  
  
"We find the defendant guilty."  
  
"On the second count, rape in the first degree, how do you find?"  
  
"We find the defendant guilty."  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your time. Counsel, set a date next week for sentencing. This court is adjourned."  
  
At the gavel bang, Jack stands and gathers his papers. "Told you I'd get that SOB."  
  
Kathy smiles. "Yeah, ya did."  
  
"Now how about that drink?"  
  
"You never give up, do you?"  
  
"Nope." Jack smiles as he closes his bag. 


End file.
